Leadership - On Purpose

There is no denying the dramatic changes that have confronted organizations in recent years. Ongoing advancements in technology and automation alone have altered the business model of many companies, prompting them to modify their operations and processes in order to keep pace and stay competitive.

Adding to those challenges now and accelerating change across all facets of business has been the continuous shift in the workplace and marketing place the the COVID-19 pandemic.?Many organizations have downsized considerably while others have been forced to find different ways of keeping their new or expanded workforce active and engaged. Leaders are faced with the challenge of managing and leading a workforce that is partially or completely remote.?Moreover, leaders and employees alike are faced with new health concerns, home education, and safety and security challenges no one could have anticipated.?

While the times and events may have impacted organizations and their leaders, the overarching objectives are still the same: achieve organizational goals, keep employees engaged and involved, and continue to attract and retain top talent. The solutions will vary. Many will invest in various work-from-home technologies; others will cut expenses or modify or drop processes and product lines to find greater efficiencies; and many will cut staff or ask their staff to do more with less.

What’s the right answer? Only the individual organization knows. However, we argue that without the development of the leaders within the organization, positive results will increasingly become more difficult to achieve.

Constant and disruptive change has accelerated the need for leaders who possess a purpose-driven, agile mindset, an ability to create followership, and a trustworthiness that instills resiliency, optimism, and confidence in others. In our research and practice, we have discovered that dealing with change of any kind is all about leadership and having leaders who lead with purpose. Purpose is a word that’s used in many different contexts. Our use of it is two-fold:

Leadership On Purpose means having an intention – a reason for wanting to be a leader that is above and beyond personal gain. It’s about your leadership presence and your mindfulness of the actions you take and in the words you use. It’s displaying congruence between intention and behavior.

Being On Purpose also means being self-aware of why you do what you do. It’s an acceptance of the path to be the kind of purpose-driven leader and person you want to be. It’s stepping up to the plate and being accountable for what’s required of you in order to make positive change happen through yourself and others.

Leaders On Purpose set vision first, then influence and inspire others to opt-in, share in that vision, and discover how their efforts fit into the greater goal. Leaders with an intent of this nature challenge and inspire every person (leaders and individual contributors alike) to be a part of something greater, to insert themselves into the story, and to take accountability for their role.

We define these individuals as Agile Leaders – those who others trust and rally around. Agile Leaders possess a leadership mindset that’s purpose-based and other-oriented, rather than results-based or only intended to satisfy a self-interest. Agile Leaders cast a positive shadow that often endures well beyond their time in office. They serve as a catalyst for change and change-resilience and as an anchor for an organization’s core principals and direction.

Throughout our careers, we have worked with many organizations and many different types of leaders. We have been a part of culture-shaping work, restructuring, talent management initiatives, leadership development efforts, engagement efforts, upsizing, downsizing, rightsizing, and change management. We have also been leaders ourselves – of processes, departments, functions, and people. And it is from this experience that we have arrived at the concepts and models that we will share with you in this book.

When we started our journey, we were purposeful in not wanting our contribution to be “another leadership book.” We wanted it to be different. We believe that our experiences, lessons learned, and blended perspectives offer a distinct view of leadership. You see, we believe that anyone can be a leader, with or without a title. We believe that real leaders are the ones who are noticed, respected, and followed by others, regardless of their position or title. Their intentions and behaviors signify to others that they have accepted the role of leadership for reasons other than personal gain. Leaders On Purpose achieve success as a result of their ability to enhance the success of others. This is our definition of being successful in leadership.

To us, it’s not a question of whether leaders are born or developed. We believe that some individuals are more natural at leadership than others. We believe that leading well can be accomplished by anyone with an “other-oriented” mindset and the willingness and agility to learn and grow.

In our research on the effectiveness of leaders in global and domestic organizations, we have identified six attributes that are unfailingly present in Agile Leaders and are of the utmost importance for purpose-driven leaders to possess in order to inspire and develop others and ensure the sustainability and success of their organizations. We have also found that these attributes are essential for mid-level leaders to acquire so that they can effectively unite and align every function of an organization and enable it to achieve its business objectives.

The Six Attributes of an Agile Leader include:

Personal Integrity - your presence as a leader.

Learning Agility - your ability and willingness to learn from experience.

Coaching Others – accepting accountability for the development of others.

Followership - your talent to inspire, build credibility, and earn the trust of others.

Systems Thinking – your capacity to view the organization from a broader perspective.

Change Resiliency – your ability to maintain consistent personal integrity and a level of productivity through a variety of situations.

Why does all of this matter? As we shared at the onset, organizations today are trying everything they can to maintain cultures that can contend with disruptive change. They need Agile Leaders with vision and an intention for growth who can build and sustain followership and inspire and support their people through these changing times. They need Agile Leaders to create an organizational culture that is confident and optimistic in the face of change, engaged, aligned in purpose, and centered on achieving its business objectives.

This all matters because culture change is not an initiative or specific activity that you can deploy. Not if you want it to stick. A positive, engaged, and productive culture is the outcome of your intent, capability, and presence as a leader. It’s the result of your cumulative and repetitive actions and the impact of your actions on the mindset and engagement of others.

As we embark on the beginning of a new year – whether by the calendar or just by beginning a new day – and learn to embrace the changes and uncertainties around us, we ask that you read the chapters that follow and reflect on your own goals, actions, behaviors, and intentions as a leader.

We invite you to consider how in line your intentions and purpose are with On Purpose leadership. We also invite you to reflect on the ways in which you can become even better at what you do, in order to make a difference in the lives of others and in the sustained success of your organization.

Within these chapters, we provide you with the rationale and roadmap, tips, and techniques for developing The Six Attributes of Agile Leaders. These qualities will help you as a leader to create cultures that attract, inspire, and retain top talent. We hope that you’ll find the stories, processes, and thought models supportive in your journey to becoming an Agile Leader and that they help to encourage the development of Agile Leaders at all levels within your organization.

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